Key Points
- Honey bees are not strongly attracted to carrot flowers, therefore contamination by pollen transfer from another carrot crop appears unlikely where crops are located more than 2 km apart.
- Pollination problems with carrots could occur if more attractive crops are located closer than 3 km and flowering at the same time.
- Foraging areas on individual trips are small and visits to various crops unlikely.
- Pollen transfer within hives is possible when bees, which have been foraging on different crops, contact each other inside the hive.
- Crop isolation should be maintained at the distances set in the Seed Crop Isolation Distance (SCID) programme.
- Wait at least three days after removing hives from a vegetable seed crop and re-locating to a new crop where cross pollination may occur (this includes surrounding crops within the foraging distances of honey bees).